Friday, February 08, 2013

Blast From The Past

Ahhh, 1977. The year I graduated from high school. This video really took me back. I really don't recall Oakley Ralph wearing a cowboy hat much. Had his son as a classmate at St. Mary of the Plains College but never got to know him very well, because he didn't live on campus. I competed in a speech contest put on by the Optimist Club with Nancy Jo Trauer's daughter. As I recall, she won the thing - mostly because she gave a far better speech than I!

And at the Longbranch Saloon you can get a soda, but what you really really want is a sarsaparilla. Good for what ails ya. The sales barn hasn't changed much, compared to many of the other shots. The mall shown was nearly brand spankin' new back then, and that area has been built up considerably. The "new" Civic Center mentioned was actually built in 1954 - heh. Downtown looks a lot different as well - some streets have been closed off and parking put in, plus an old mill across the tracks from Front Street has been demolished and is now parking for the Dodge dealer. Most of the downtown streets are still brick, but the theater is kaput these days. Cattle are still fed from "feed trucks" just like the one dumping feed into the concrete bunk in the film.

Oh, and the video cuts to a Black History moment about Harvard's "new" Afro-American Studies at about the 5:15 mark. Interesting for sure, but I am puzzled why they were lumped together.

About Me

I've lived here on The Poor Farm most of my life. Located in western Kansas, where the wind blows - supposedly the Dodge City weather station at the airport has the highest average wind speed in the CONUS. It would be the "sticks" out here if there were any trees, but I like it. I really like the spring - when it is calm, and the smell of the fresh wheat and other plants fill the air with a unique "green" smell. My real love is the fall, when the air is cooling and calm, when you breath the air it is like a drink of cool water. Speaking of cool water, my well produces some mighty good tasting stuff. It is hard water for sure - all the faucets have lime on them, but I'll take it over soft mossy smelling reservoir water from the city any day.